The Word "Rejoice" In the Bible

The Hebrew word for rejoice, śāmah, means to be glad or joyful with one's whole heart. There are many reasons for this all-encompassing joy, but most often it comes from knowledge of God and the salvation that He brings. It states in Nehemiah 8:10 that "the joy of the Lord is [one's] strength." Unfortunately, not all joy comes from God, for we as wicked people often rejoice at the sufferings of others. This sort of joy, however, does not last and will lead to regret. However, humans are called to worship God with joy- in fact, Deuteronomy 28:47-48 implies that failure to worship the Lord with gladness will also lead to regret.

In the Greek, the word 'rejoice' is synonymous with the word 'joy.' As in the Hebrew language, it is most often used to describe joy in the knowledge of salvation through Christ. However, it can also be used to describe the joy that comes from eating, drinking, and celebrating. In the New Testament, the word "rejoice" is used in primarily two different ways: to describe every kind of joy, and to mean boasting or taking pride in something. Paul most often uses the latter term, which he often uses to contrast people's desire to boast in themselves with their right to boast in God. There is one very significant difference between the meanings of the word in Hebrew and Greek: in the New Testament, it is stated more than once that rejoicing can occur because of suffering for Christ, not only because of the knowledge of salvation. One such instance is in II Corinthians 12:9, when Paul states that he will boast of his weaknesses so that the power of Christ will dwell in him.

Works Cited

Achtemeier, Paul. Romans: Interpretation a Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching. Atlanta, Georgia: John Knox Press, 1985.

Buttrick, George Arthur. The Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible (Volume E-J; K-Q). Nashville, Tennessee: Abingdon Press, 1985.

Harris, R. Laird, Gleason L. Archer, and Bruce K. Waltke. Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament, Volumes I and II. Chicago, Illinois: Moody Press, 1980.

Strong, James. Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible: With Brief Dictionaries of the Hebrew and Greek Words of the Original with References to the English Words. Nashville, Tennessee: Royal Publishers, 1975.